How are you doing/feeling? Compared to last week, yesterday, last month, last year; are you worse, the same or better? Comparisons to others are dangerous and draining, but I always encourage my clients to compare to themselves to assess where they are on their journey of thriving or after their latest negotiation or completion of a big project. Was the result about the same, worse or better than the last negotiation or project? If not better then what would you do differently so that the next one is better? Be deliberate about learning from each and every experience.
As we go into 2013, looking back at 2012, was it worse, better or the same as 2011? Hopefully better. What steps will you take now so that a year from now, you look back at 2013 and say, “Wow, 2013 was even better than 2012!”
And keep in mind, thriving and getting better are not linear, but more of an upward spiral as Stephen Covey defined so well in his classic, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.” You may go down into “worse” and then hover around “same” before you move up into the “better” range. So, measure over a year versus a month or week and don’t get caught up in a really bad day (or week or month) and then give up.